Condo Management Alternative

I have been on my board of directors for about 7 years, and have been attending the meetings for 10 years. About 8 years ago, we switched from another management company to CMA. The other company had nasty employees who lied, so we definitely needed a change.
I am currently the Vice President on the board and our president has been out of the country, so I have worked very closely with CMA. The board doesn’t really do much, it’s the management company that does all of the day to day work. Some of the tasks that CMA performs for my condo are answer questions and complaints from residents, send out correspondence, pay our bills, receive maintenance payments from residents, find contractors, answer our mail, respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, screen residents, all of our accounting, background checks on future residents, dealing with foreclosures, working with new owners, leases, attend and assist at board meetings etc etc.
CMA is a family owned and operated business, which is always preferable. Ron and Nancy Saathoff have owned CMA for 27 years! Twenty seven years! That is saying a lot in South Florida. Talk about longevity. Ron and Nancy are 110% involved with the day to day activities of the business, and they have personally attended every one of our board meetings. Ron handles the finances of the properties that they oversee and he pays great attention to the little details and is very knowledgeable. I feel very secure knowing that my condo’s finances are in his hands. I deal with Nancy a little bit more than Ron as she handles everything else. If there is an emergency, or a vote that needs to take place, Nancy is right on it.
CMA is a small company and they have about 5 employees. Melinda is Nancy’s assistant with the day to day operations and she is always very pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable. She seems to take every problem that she encounters personally. One time we were having a problem with a contractor who wanted to be paid for a very shoddy job where he ended up causing damage to something he was supposed to clean. Melinda and I talked on the phone quite a few times about this issue. She called me and told me that she had been thinking about this problem and had come up with a solution. I think she was thinking about this problem quite a bit more than I had, which I certainly appreciate. She is very knowledgeable in management issues.
The other employees at CMA are equally as wonderful and they are always a pleasure to work with. Even when they call me when I’m sitting at the beach relaxing. I’m glad they are there for us.
Management companies get a bad rap, a REALLY bad rap. I’m in law enforcment and I often tell the employees at CMA that their job is way more difficult than mine. Management companies have to deal with a lot of residents that are upset for one reason or another but CMA always handles each situation with tact, understanding, and exemplary customer service skills.